


Win, Lose or Grog

by blue_pointer



Series: A Glorious Retelling [54]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Arcane texting, Canon Timeline, Dad Solidarity, Don't copy to another site, Episode: c01e069 Passed Through Fire, Fluff, Goth Slumber Parties, Grog can't read, Grog is the smart one, M/M, POV Grog Strongjaw, Stealing from Rogues, Texting, minor Shaun Gilmore/Grog Strongjaw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29191569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_pointer/pseuds/blue_pointer
Summary: With Percy dead, Grog has become Vox Machina’s dad. He texts Gilmore for some dad talk.
Relationships: Grog Strongjaw & Pike Trickfoot, Shaun Gilmore & Grog Strongjaw
Series: A Glorious Retelling [54]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975831
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	Win, Lose or Grog

Grog waited for the expensive-ass wine to kick in with Vex and Keyleth so that they went to sleep proper. Scanlan was the first one asleep, because he didn’t have many worries. And Grog knew Vax was out when he started to do that weird nose whistle he made in his sleep. 

Grog didn’t fancy sleeping on soft blankets on the carpet. He also didn’t feel right about sleeping in the same room with a corpse he hadn’t slain himself, even if it was Percy, and he wouldn’t be a corpse for much longer. But before he went downstairs to sleep on the cozy sawdust of the training room floor, Grog wanted to try a thing. 

Hunkering down, Grog made himself into the smallest, most unobtrusive Grog there could ever be. He crept, slow and quiet as a Minxie toward where Vax was sleeping on his fluffy blanket. And using all the stealth and luck Grog had ever mustered at once, he reached into Vax’s cloak and stole the magic Gilmore paper. 

When he looked up, thinking he’d been victorious, Grog found the creepy little boy who’d killed Keyleth twice staring at him from across the room. He still looked sad, but now the boy looked curious and a little concerned, too. Grog pointed at him, silently aiming all of his Intimidate at the little shit. The boy looked terrified, and slid down the wall to his knees.  _ Good. _ Then, just as Minxie-like, Grog crawled out of the den and snuck downstairs. 

Sitting on the weight bench, Grog pondered the magic paper, wondering just how he could get it to work. He remembered Vex had to spit on her magic broom to make it fly, so Grog tried that. But no words appeared on the paper. Just spit.

Maybe Grog just needed to talk. That’s really why he’d taken the paper anyway. There was no one else he could talk to right now. Everyone else was so sad, and he was in charge. It felt kind of lonely. 

Maybe you had to talk to a paper the way you wrote on one. Grog tried to think of a proper letter that someone like Percy might write. “Dear Gilmore,” he began. “I am writin’ this letter in hopes you are doin’ very well and in good health. I am sad to report that on this day the...uh…” Grog didn’t really know what the date was. Calendars were for fancy people, and he was not that. “Stardate twenty three-hundred eight.” That sounded like a real number. “Captain’s Log: Today Percy was killed dead. He was actually killed three times before that, but Ripley kept shootin’ at him until he was dead for good. 

“Please don’t be sad. I know that Pike’ll be able to bring Percy back good as new as soon as we get back home. Pike’s really good like that. Also, we killed Ripley, like. A lot. I have pieces of her in my bags, so she is definitely not coming back. 

“But everyone else is really sad. Scanlan wanted to have a funeral, like the one you did for Tiberius, but I told him no, because Percy’s only going to be dead for one night. Vex and Keyleth keep crying. They’re so sad, I had to give them bottles to make them sleep.

“I guess what I’m sayin’ is, since Percy is dead, I guess that makes me in charge now. I’m tryin’ to do my best by everyone. I didn’t even make fun of Vax for cryin’. But. Now that I’m the leader, it’s kind of...lonely. Like I’m the only one who knows what’s going on. Before, when I never knew what was going on, I felt more like part of the group. I’m not sure what that means...Also. I wish Pike was here. 

“‘I miss you, Pike.’ Tell her I said that, if you see her before we get back. Oh, and tell her Percy is dead, so we’ll need her help, but not to worry, because ‘Grog believes in you, monster.’” 

Grog tried to think of what else he wanted to tell Gilmore. As he thought, lines started to burn into the paper. Grog dropped it and stomped on it, afraid the paper would burn and Vax would shave his beard off again. But it didn’t burn. When Grog took his boot away, he could see his name written there. 

“Grog. Oh hey! Yeah, it’s me, Gilmore.” Grog thought about it. He wasn’t sure, but… “Does your name and mine start with the same letter?” 

Grog watched while the paper turned blank and more lines started burning into it. At the end, there was a face smiling back at him. 

Grog smiled, too. “Is that right?” Grog asked, excitedly. “Did I guess right?” 

Another smiley face, this one a bit smaller, appeared next to the first. Grog did a happy little jump. Maybe he could learn other letters, too, someday. Pike had tried to teach him, but letters were hard to remember. 

“Hey, Gilmore, did you hear everything I said?” Grog asked, because the paper hadn’t started burning until just now. 

A third smiley face appeared, followed by a fourth face, which was frowning and had a little tear coming out of one eye. 

“Aw, it’s okay, Gilmore,” Grog told it. “Like I said, Percy will be right as rain after we see Pike.” 

A thumbs-up burned itself into the paper. 

“You can tell Pike we’ll be home tomorrow,” Grog said. 

Another thumbs-up. 

“But like. You should come see us, too. I mean, if you want. We’ll probably go out drinking after Percy comes alive again. Cuz that’s what we do. It would be nice if you were there.” 

Lines burned into the paper until Grog could see a little stick figure lying in bed with his eyes closed. He had long black braids like Gilmore. 

“You’ll be sleeping?” 

The smiley face returned. 

“Aw, okay. Well. Maybe I can come visit, like. After you wake up, I mean.” 

This next smiley face gave Grog hope. 

“Right, well. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Grog said. 

The next smiley face had a hand, and it was waving goodbye. 

Grog waved back. “Night, you. Gilmore.” 

Another stick figure appeared, this time with Grog’s beard and face tattoos. Disembodied hands were tucking him in for the night. 

“Aw, thanks. You, too.” Grog carefully rolled up the paper and gave it a secret little hug before sneaking back upstairs. 

Vax’s little boy was waiting for him in the den. Grog scowled menacingly at him, thrusting the magic paper toward the boy. “You put this back inside his cloak without waking Vax up, or I’ll grind your bones into oatmeal.” 

The boy nodded--what was his name? Kindly? Kye-man?--and snuck away very stealthy-like to do what Grog had said. 

After he watched the boy do it, and made sure Vax was still asleep, Grog went downstairs to sleep on a trusty dirt floor without a dead body in the room. The others didn’t know it yet, but tomorrow was going to be a good day. 


End file.
